Caged Birds
by madeleinejoy9726
Summary: The caged bird sings with a fearful trill of things not seen but longed for still, and his song is heard on the distant hill, for the caged bird sings of freedom. The lotus is a pretty flower, but it doesn't die easily. Book 5 of Korra. Some Zhurrick
1. Chapter 1

Poem in the description accredited to Maya Angelou.

* * *

><p>Op1 did not appreciate the spirit world. Op1 much preferred the standard bounds of earth, maths, and human nature. Here things were ever changing and the colours had an artificial tinge to them. It had been said once that the spirit world was so real that it seemed fake, but Op1 didn't believe that for a moment.<p>

The best thing to do would be to get things over with fast and then get out even faster. Op1 wound his way through the ghostly forests and finally came upon a hill overlooking a little lake - or did terms such as 'lake' and 'hill' even apply in these ethereal circumstances? Op1 snorted softly and headed up the hill.

Beneath a twisted tree sat a silent figure. Even from afar, he radiated a mysterious charisma that turned heads and sent feet shying away. Op1 had once seen several people trip over their own feet, falling in the gutter as he passed. Op1 had seen a lot.

Zaheer looked up as Op1 approached, panting slightly, his feet leaving no trail in the grass. Just another piece of proof that there was something wrong with the spirit world. "Operative 1", the anarchist greeted.

In answer, Op1 only nodded. Zaheer appreciated silence.

"Where are you now?" By this, Zaheer meant in the real world.

"I'm on the train, sir. About three hours' travel north of Republic City."

Zaheer nodded in approval. "I trust everything is going to plan so far?"

Op1 knew better than to lie. "There were a few...complications in Zaofu. But it's taken care of."

"As long as you're sure it's taken care of, I won't ask what you did wrong." Zaheer paused, regarding him with a steady and unnerving gaze. "Something's on your mind, Operative. Please share."

Op1 eased himself down onto the grass. "I do have one question. Why are we starting in Republic City?"

Nodding sagely, Zaheer shut his eyes. Somewhere in the limbo, Op1's heart sank. Zaheer only shut his eyes if he did not intend to answer. A true answer would have involved cat-like staring, soul-searching from conversation distance, a calculated calculation of the opponent's reaction.

"That's not for you to know right now, Operative 1. The Red Lotus will reveal everything to you in time."

_I knew it, _he thought. Resigned, he stood once more and half-bowed stiffly. "Pardon me, Zaheer, but I must take my leave."

Zaheer stood as well. He hated to look up at people, hence his occupation of the top of the hill, which forced any other entities to sit downwards of him. "Best of luck to you, Operative. I trust you will find Operative 5 well-informed."

Op1's brow lowered. He could not stand Op5. Op5 was so young and incompetent. Op5 was annoying to no end. Nevertheless, he nodded efficiently and made his way back down the hill to the place where he had emerged. It would be a long and uncomfortable ride to Republic City, but at least the train was real.

* * *

><p>Varrick rocked back in the desk chair with a dramatic sigh. "I don't remember what possessed me to get married. It's more trouble than it's worth."<p>

"I'm sure that's not true", Asami said, slightly distracted with balancing the budget.

"Now she wants a DOG", continued Varrick loudly. "A DOG of all things. And not a polar-bear dog, not a deer dog, not a goat dog, not a prairie dog, just a REGULAR DOG. Do you have _any_ idea how hard it is to find a regular dog these days!? There is no room in the budget for dog food."

Asami wondered privately why there was room in the budget for such useless things as organic upholstery and free-range beef sticks, but not dog food.

"...I suppose I'll have to find a dog _somewhere_," Varrick continued. "I mean, a cat probably won't do. They shed."

"Dogs shed too", Asami pointed out. Varrick shot her a withering look.

"I am trying to rant here. This is not a matter of logic."

So Asami let it go and turned back to the paperwork. "Varrick, I don't have time to be your secretary", she said tiredly. "I have enough on my plate as it is. If Zhu Li isn't willing to handle this, and if you're too incompetent to do it yourself, then I suggest you hire a new assistant."

Varrick snorted. "I'm the devilishly handsome and charismatic face of the company", he snapped. "I can't do paperwork!"

"I do my own! I shouldn't have to handle yours as well just because our companies are on a merger! If I'm going to spend extra time babysitting your company for you than I should at least get paid for it!"

"Well I'm handling a new assistant anyway, and I'm sure she'll do much better than _you_", Varrick shot back.

"I'm sure she will. I can't work when I'm worn down to a frazzle." Asami paused and looked up at Varrick. "On the subject of assistants, why are all of your henchmen female?"

"Well, Bo Lin wasn't, and you know how well _that _turned out. We nearly committed joint suicide."

"I'm not entirely sure it was a joint decision", Asami said.

"Bo Lin's decision to live or die is absolutely none of your business", Varrick told her coldly.

And so, as she had become accustomed to doing when it came to her radical business partner, Asami let it go.

"I did hire a new limo driver, though", Varrick continued. Once you got him on a spiel about how many people worked for him, there was almost no way to stop it. "His name is Marqy."

"I've met Marqy", Asami reminded him. "And I think I remember him explicitly telling me that his name is Marq, not Marqy."

"As long as he works for me, his name is Marqy", said Varrick decisively.

"You can't just name your employees like pets."

"Just try and stop me, Salami", Varrick answered.

"I'll get right on that, _Iknik_," she answered back.

"Never call me that again."

Asami just shook her head and laid the paperwork down on the side table. As she did so, she caught a glimpse of a random blueprint sticking out from under a paperweight. As she moved the paperweight, the blueprint fluttered down off of the side table. Varrick didn't normally keep blueprints in his office unless he was seriously considering manufacturing them.

"Hey, what is this?" Asami shook the blueprint at him. "New project?"

Varrick snatched the paper from her. "That is private, thank you very much."

"Yeah, but I just want to know what it is. Why does it have Lin Beifong's name on it?"

Varrick ahem-ed delicately. "This is a doorway security system. It's designed to draw power right off the city's main grid. Chief Beifong is growing increasingly concerned with the recent rise in kidnapping cases and wants to make sure the citizens of Republic City feel safe. The council ever so kindly suggested that I arm the main family-friendly neighbourhoods with personal security systems."

"You seem mad", Asami pointed out. "Are you - "

"No, I am not getting paid. Su Yin Beifong is shipping resources in from Zaofu and Chief Prissypants has offered the help of her metalbender minions in manufacturing, so apparently that warrants me not making a profit."

"All things considered, it seems like a fair trade."

"This is valuable time that I could be spending working on the new Firefly prototypes. Working off the old Hummingbird blueprints has sorely failed. I'm having to redesign the entire engine to accommodate the exoskeleton."

"How would you feel about this if you had a kid?" Asami inquired.

Varrick huffed. "That's just the problem. Ever since I got married, my morality has been getting the better of me."

"Ah", Asami cried, "Zhu Li has managed to create something out of nothing!"

"Are you saying I lacked morality before? I was a good guy!" protested Varrick.

"Forgive me, but seeing as you bombed me, I'm inclined to disagree."

Varrick snorted. "Go on, now, Asami. Marqy will drive you home."

* * *

><p>Op1 opened his eyes, startled as the doors nearest him dinged open. He must've fallen asleep.<p>

Stretching his sore limbs, Op1 exited the train. He hated trains. They were so loud. One would think that a prestigious railway system such as the one running between earthstates would at least have comfortable seating.

In the corner of the platform, near the designated delicatessen booth, Op17 was waiting alone.

"I thought Op5 was supposed to be here", grumbled Op1. "Doesn't Operative 5 have some sort of helicopter that we can use to get places? Why didn't he come pick me up from Zaofu instead of making me suffer that infernal train?"

Op17 gave him a cold look. "I think you'd do well to remember that I had to cross an ocean to get here. Boats don't come equipped with good mattresses, apparently. Or good books."

"This is another reason why I can't stand Op5. He doesn't help. He goofs off the whole time. And now he's late."

"Actually, he radioed to cancel while you were on the train. An unexpected complication came up. The Employer wished him to blend in, and his situation could have been compromised if he had broken off from what he was doing."

"I can't wait for this all to be over. Once the Red Lotus gets what it wants, we'll have all we need."

Op17 nodded sagely. "We need to get to the hotel soon", she told him. "Due to your delayed arrival, we may miss check-in."

Op1 snorted in dissatisfaction. "This just goes to show that the monarchy and democracy are in the wrong. The so-called Great Uniter can't even build a railway that runs on time, much less comfortably."

"Quit your griping, Op1. I've been waiting in the rain for two hours. You're not the only one in discomfort here."

"Very well." Op1 fell into step with Op17. "I don't suppose we get a leave of absence before the work begins?"

"Of course not", Op17 chastened. "You know our Employer likes us to dive right in. Keeps us on our toes, he says."

"If he's following his natural pattern, then it's going to get a lot harder for us in the next few weeks."

"Don't you doubt it. With the recent attention problem that's arisen, the police are buckling down on the family neighbourhoods. We're going to have to be careful."

"I'm warning you, 17, if you fall this time, I'm not coming back to pick you up."

"All right then. If I have to kill you to save my own life, I won't hesitate."

"Fair enough." Op1 raised his head to stare straight into her eyes. Over the years, he'd gotten good at imitating Zaheer's cat-like stare.

"Kill or be killed", Op17 intoned.

Such was the way of the Red Lotus.


	2. Chapter 2

It was a cold, cold night in Republic City when Op1 met Bauer.

He learned later that Bauer preferred the cold. She liked to go out at night. If Bauer ever slept, nobody ever saw it.

Right off the bat, Bauer terrified him; Op1 never appreciated things that he couldn't understand. He watched her lower her hood and stare into a child's eyes for a moment, then lead him away as he forgot his parents. He watched as the crowd parted for her without realising it. And when Bauer reached them in the alley with the little boy in tow, he saw the same vacant look in the child's eyes as he had on a corpse years before. But that was a corpse he had vowed to never think about again.

Bauer was a ghost, a haunting. You could catch her out of the corner of your eye, but never look at her full on. She was not human; she was something else entirely. Something that Op1 would rather not associate with.

When Op17 first appeared with Bauer behind her, Op1 could sense something wrong with her. _Zaheer, what curse have you brought upon me now?_

Op17 caught the apprehensive look in his eyes, and shot him a withering look. "Be nice, Kaygai. Things that you don't understand won't necessarily hurt you."

Op1 did not appreciate the fact that Op17 was aware of his weakness.

Silent like a shadow, Bauer stepped forward and held out her hand to him. When he gave her his to shake, he felt utter cold radiating off of her skin. He wasn't entirely sure that skin was what he was touching - it was like holding the hand of a skeleton. Bauer drew her hand away almost immediately, and backed off to stand behind Op17. There was a wary look in her eyes, like a dog that has sensed something dangerous.

"I can feel death coming off you", she said to him. Not the best way to break the ice.

Bauer and Op1 stayed away from each other after that.

"Are we doing this tonight?" demanded Op1, a bit put off.

"No. The employer wants us to become used to working with each other before things get serious." Op17 clapped Bauer on the shoulder. "Show us what you can do."

It was then that Bauer...entranced? Hypnotised? Brainwashed? Stole. She stole the child from the crowded market. Nobody spared her a second glance.

Op17 nodded her approval. She took the boy by the back of the shirt and gestured for the other two to follow. By the time they got the the waiting van, Bauer was gone.

"Thoughts?" Op17 inquired.

Op1 sighed. "Anything to achieve our goal."

"Even if you're scared?"

"How I feel does not matter", said Op1 evenly. Op17 smiled to herself and shut the back of the van. She walked around to the front and spoke to the driver, who started the engine and wheeled away.

Op17 and Op1 watched the trails of dust rise up from the receding wheels, as insignificant and almost-imagined as Bauer herself, and then Op17 turned to him. She stood taller than him by half a head. "Get some sleep, Kaygai. You're going to need it."

"Don't speak my name", said Op1. "In a world of chaos, identity doesn't matter."

"In a world of chaos, your opinion on identity doesn't matter", said Op17, "and I'd prefer to stay who I am, thank you."

Op1 snorted. "Good luck with that."

* * *

><p>Bauer appeared out of nowhere the next morning.<p>

Op1 had met Op17 at a corner cafe for breakfast. Op5 slunk in, gangly and broody; he didn't stay for long. He ordered a coffee and stepped out of the cafe before Op1 had even ordered.

"So much for _him_", muttered Op1.

Then a barely-there figure in a cloak stepped out from behind Op17. She hadn't been there when 17 came in. She certainly hadn't been there when they sat down. Op1 sat with an open view of the doorway, and Bauer sent such chills up his spine that he was certain he would have noticed her presence.

"Rosen", said Bauer quietly. Op17 visibly startled and turned in her seat. Op1 was confused for a moment, then remembered distantly that Rosen was Op17's name.

"Coffee?" inquired Bauer, honing her sights in on the teapot in the centre of the table.

"Tea", replied Op1 coolly. Bauer's eyes narrowed, and for a split second, Op1 was afraid.

Then the moment passed, and Bauer sank into a vacant chair without a whisper of sound. Op17 looked...relieved. Apparently she had been as disconcerted with Bauer's displeasure as Op1 had been.

"We can order coffee, if you prefer", she said, straightening and drawing herself together. "It wouldn't be much trouble."

In answer, Bauer reached for the teapot and poured a cup of green tea for herself.

"Okay, then", murmured Op17, looking away. "What do you think of muffins, Kaygai?"

His name again. Op1 tried to conceal his dislike. "No", he said, just to get back at her.

"All right, then...oatmeal?" Again, a shake of the head.

"Pancakes", she guessed, and once again the answer was negative. He was messing with her. He wondered how long it would take her to figure it out.

Op17 went for one last try. "Eggs", she said, positive that this time she was right.

"I don't eat breakfast, 17", said Op1 evenly. He took a sip of his green tea.

Op17 sighed at his aloofness. "You know it's better to use our names in public", she said in a low voice. "We're already getting queer looks."

"What, because of her?" Kaygai jerked a thumb at Bauer, who straightened and blinked several times in a hurt manner.

"_Kaygai_", snapped Rosen. "Behave." She took Kaygai by the wrist and Bauer by the sleeve and said "We are supposed to be getting acquainted so we can work together."

"What is this, a seance?" quipped Kaygai.

"Do you like sports?" ventured Bauer, at least making an effort to make an effort, which provoked a soft laugh from Rosen. It was amusing to her, Kaygai supposed, to hear Bauer's ghostly voice saying something so mundane.

Without another word, Kaygai stood up, pulling his hand from Rosen's and taking the paper cup of tea with him. "Where are you going!?" hissed Rosen.

"Out." He turned and walked towards the doorway. Exasperated, Rosen followed with Bauer in tow. Bauer had not touched the tea she had poured, nor ordered breakfast.

Rosen hurried out onto the pavement and tried to keep up with Kaygai's long strides. "Our employer wants this", she said angrily. "You can't just go against his command like this!"

"I do not wish to become acquainted with that _creature_", snapped Kaygai, jabbing a finger towards where he thought Bauer might be.

Rosen sighed. "At least sleep today", she said, drawing herself up to her full height and regarding him with heavily made-up eyes. "The employer has moved the date of the assignment up to tonight."

"Are you _kidding?_"

"Get over it", Rosen said with finality, crossing her arms.

Kaygai huffed and dropped his cup on the pavement, watching with satisfaction as it splattered on Rosen's thigh-high patent leather boots. "Get over it", he answered. Then he turned and went back to the hotel.

* * *

><p>Despite Op17's warnings about the need for sleep, Op1 tossed and turned the next day. He had gone to bed right after lunch as suggested. The next part of the plan would happen at night. But the dusty sunlight coming in through the windows plagued him to no end.<p>

Aside from that, his right hand retained a burning cold where Bauer had touched it, where she had shaken his hand the night before. He couldn't fathom why. He had washed his hands under hot water several times in quick succession, but to no effect; he tugged on a pair of gloves in an attempt to keep warm, but nothing seemed to help. Then the idea arose in him that Bauer had done this to him out of spite. Whoever - whatever - she was wasn't right. It was pure evil. It wasn't something created, it was the result of destruction. The way she had shied away from him all evening - she knew. She had done this on purpose. She knew fully well the extent of her abilities. The thing that bothered him was that he did not.

At last, he gave up on sleep, and spent the afternoon reading old books that somebody had left in the hotel room. As night fell, dinnertime passed him by, and he fell asleep fully clothed around midnight.

Three hours later, Kaygai was awoken by the telephone ringing right by his head. With a groan, he sat up and snatched the receiver off the holder. "Good morning", he groused.

Rosen laughed. "I told you it was tonight. Did you not sleep?" The perky, fully-rested tone in her voice greatly irritated Kaygai.

Kaygai hung up and stood, pulling a waiting black mask over his head, annoyed at how his hair was plastered down to his skin, and stepped out into the night.

The house was a big one, right near city hall. "Lovely, isn't it?" said Rosen in satisfaction. "So peaceful. So quiet. No chaos whatsoever."

"Not yet", added Op5. Oh, he was so smart. Kaygai didn't know which made him matter: when Op5 didn't show, or when Op5 did show.

Of course, knowing Op5 and Rosen, they had probably practised those lines in secret before coming to the site.

"Isn't this one armed by one of the prototype security systems? Garrick? Tarrent? What's that guy again?"

"Varrick/Future Industries", Op5 cut in.

"Yes, thank you", said Kaygai, not meaning it. "Why are we breaking into an armed house on our first night?"

"Our sources from the inside tell us that Varrick Industries isn't really trying", said Rosen. "The inventor didn't want to do the project at all, since it's government sourced and he's not getting paid. He couldn't turn it down because then Varrick/Future will look bad. So he did the most slack job possible and only armed the doorway with a single measly motion sensor that is placed just above eye level on the average 30-year-old male."

"You could easily use a window or simply duck below", said Op5.

"Or be short, like Kaygai", suggested Rosen.

"Or stop saying stupid things and get on with it", suggested Kaygai.

Op5 shrugged. "You asked."

"How many kids in the house?" asked Kaygai.

Rosen unrolled a blueprint and outlined the basic path of the mission. "7th-grader in the attic room. 6-year-old twins across the hall from each other. 9-month-old baby in the room next to the parents."

"Somebody's helping the population", quipped Op5.

"Kaygai, you've got the boy twin. Op5, you've got the girl twin. Bauer, get the older boy, and then go do that hypnotising thingy with the other two." Rosen rolled up the blueprint and put it back in her satchel. "I will get the baby."

"What if it starts crying?" asked Op5. Oh, he was _so_ smart.

"That's not your problem, operative", said Rosen nastily. "Don't break any windows. Don't leave any footprints. Don't steal anything but the children. Got it?" Before she was halfway done, Op5 was skirting around to the window of the girl's room. Rosen shook her head. "Talk about anarchy." Then she, too, set off.

To Kaygai's great dismay, he and Bauer were going the same way. The window to the attic room was right above the window to the boy's room. Bauer rolled her eyes into their very corners and gawked at him like a spooked horse, but he knew that witch was anything but scared of him.

Stopping below the top window, Kaygai watched as Bauer climbed the ornamental moulding on the wall - a security hazard if he ever saw one. She seemed to glide up the moulding, an apparition. Watching her was like catching a faint star out of the corner of your eye and then turning to find blank sky. Kaygai used to do this when he was younger: try to catch an elusive star in straight-on vision, like they were moving out of the way as soon as he turned his head. He didn't even attempt it with Bauer.

Instead, he watched the window. Interestingly enough, her reflection manifested crystal-clear. He gazed in morbid curiosity, a spectacle seen in reverse, as she lowered her hood, showing long brown hair done up in intricate braids, and stared straight through the window.

Kaygai watched her eyes, and a spark seemed to come into them. The world seemed darker for a moment.

The next thing he remembered was lying on the ground beneath the moulding with a throbbing headache. Bauer crouched over him with both boys behind her, dogged and vacant.

"Don't look at my eyes", she said. Her voice was like frost creeping over the ground. Her breath hit his eyebrow and then was gone like an illusion. Perhaps she didn't even breathe.

"I didn't, I just saw - "

"Reflections are the truth", she interrupted. "We are merely reflections of a reflection. My power seen in a glass prism is ten times stronger."

Kaygai scrambled away as he realised what had happened, pieces fitting together in his head. Whatever spell Bauer had placed over the boys had affected him too. He must have tried to climb up the moulding after her, and then fallen. He wondered with a shudder how long she had crouched there watching him, waiting for him to get up. He felt an eerie panic to escape her line of sight, and hurried ahead of her around the corner of the house. Op5 was waiting in the van. Rosen had the baby under one arm like it was a library book. The little girl sat in the back of the van, staring straight ahead.

Rosen levelled a frosty gaze at him. "You're an idiot", she said simply.

"I - "

"You may be the veteran here, but you know nothing of the supernatural", she snapped, gripping him by the collar, not roughly, but assertively. "Your generation is grounded in the real, not the surreal. The affirmative, not the figmentative. Here's a lesson for you, Kaygai." She leaned closer, letting her perfume overwhelm him. "If you can see Bauer, _that means you need to not be there anymore._"

Kaygai wrenched himself free of her fist and tried to smooth his shirt down.

"Go home and go to sleep", said Rosen spitefully. "We've got another one to do tomorrow night."

* * *

><p>Korra paced in the waiting room of the VarrickFuture offices. Varrick sat in a chair near her, a sullen, child-like expression on his face.

"Did you really think that would work? A _single motion sensor. Placed at forehead level._ Do you know how much motion is in my forehead!? Are there even muscles in my forehead? How is a SINGLE MOTION SENSOR AT FOREHEAD LEVEL supposed to detect me when I am CRAWLING THROUGH A WINDOW FIVE FEET AWAY!?"

"It's not my fault the government didn't ship in adequate supplies!"

"One house, Varrick. One house! One house and thirty pounds of Zaofu-harvested metal! Can you not do something to ONE HOUSE with THIRTY POUNDS OF METAL and SIXTY YARDS OF WIRING!?"

"This is a _prototype_," Varrick argued. "I'm not going to use all my resources on a _prototype._ There are over a thousand residences in this city. Two-thirds of them contain children. This does not include apartments. Thirty pounds of metal is a lot, Korra, but it's not enough for everything!"

Korra pinched the bridge of her nose. "I'm not asking you to do everything! I just want an effective prototype! You can get more material later!"

Varrick folded his arms. "I seriously doubt that. Last I heard, Zaofu's work force was threatening strike because of the workers' union. Su Yin had a hard enough time scraping together thirty pounds. We need something that uses minimal resources with maximum security and it's not as easy as you seem to believe!"

"Look, this is your puzzle!" Korra jabbed a finger at his chest. "_You solve it,_ Mr. Genius! You felled a mech army with a single pulse. You started a campaign with a moving picture about talking animals. Build me a security system, Varrick, or all you're gonna end up with is more of _this._" Korra swept an arm out towards the weeping couple whose children had been kidnapped the night before.

Asami chose this moment to step in beside the Avatar. "You haven't been trying your best, have you? Just admit it. Your fullest effort hasn't gone into this project. I mean, it's better than the city can do on its own, but from you, this is pathetic, Varrick."

Varrick stood. "Okay, okay, I'll admit I'm not entirely enthusiastic about this project. But come on. Give me a break here! There is _no profit_! None whatsoever! I can't just pump out a thousand wide-range security networks and not get paid!"

"It's always about the profit with you!" Korra flung her arms up in exasperation. "Can you not just do something out of the good of your own heart for once?"

"What is it you need?" Asami inquired. "More resources? More time?"

"We don't _have_ more time", Korra muttered.

Varrick paced back and forth. "I need...I need...hmm. I need the one thing you just said we don't have. And I think we need to take a different approach. Instead of trying to set up a widespread project, we need to set up a sting operation. Is there anything to suggest that the kidnappings are being done by the same people each time?"

"I can't see why anybody would want more than one kid", muttered Asami. "No offence", she added quickly to the weeping couple.

"I think it's safe to assume that, yes", said Korra. "At least they're being done by several different but distinctive groups of people. Some take place at the same time, but the police aren't willing to believe that this is a spontaneous effort by unrelated perpetrators."

"And they just stole four kids, I mean, it take more than one guy to do that", said Asami. "These things are definitely coordinated."

Varrick turned to the artistic map on the wall of the room. "We need to map a trail, figure out where they're gonna strike next", he muttered.

"I don't think it's a coincidence that they struck at one of the twenty houses where you chose to place a prototype. They're messing with us, trying to scare us. Here's what we do", Korra began. "Make a fake device, but let your labs think it's real. If there's a worm on the inside, we don't want them alerting the criminals. Install this device in only 5 houses so there'll be enough police to patrol all of them. They come to the house, they think they're messing with our brains, but then Lin's people grab them, and voila: interrogation, incarceration."

"Sounds like a plan", said Varrick decisively. "Marqy, get the limo and drive these poor people home."

"It's just Marq, sir", whined the chauffeur miserably. Varrick flapped a hand at him and he left, pouting, to get the heater started in the limo.

Korra put a hand on each of the parents' shoulders. "We're gonna get your kids back. I promise." The woman flung her arms around Korra in a burst of affection.

"Thank you so much, Avatar Korra", she babbled. "Republic City is so lucky to have you."

Korra made a show of sending them on their way, managing to free herself from the woman's grasp, and then followed them out. Before she left the threshold, she turned to give Varrick a level gaze. "Don't fail me this time, or the blood of those kids is on you."


End file.
